By Louis Smith.

The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers summarized and in South America they’re approaching the halfway stage with the table beginning to shape up nicely. Teams are fighting for crucial points as the competition intensifies, and the battle for qualification spots becomes more competitive.

Argentina

Captain Lionel Messi, returns to International duty for the first time since his injury during the 2024 Copa America final.

The squad includes two uncapped players in Julio Soler and Nico Paz.

La Albiceleste extended their unbeaten run to 12 matches last month with a 3-0 victory over Chile, before suffering a 2-1 loss away from home against Colombia.

Argentina remain top of the standings.

Argentina Squad

Goalkeepers:
Geronimo Rulli, Juan Musso, Walter Benitez

Defenders:
Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico, Nahuel Molina, German Pezzella, Cristian Romero, Gonzalo Montiel, Lisandro Martinez, Leonardo Balerdi, Julio Soler

Midfielders:
Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso, Alexis Mac Allister, Exequiel Palacios, Enzo Fernandez, Thiago Almada, Facundo Buonanotte

Forwards:
Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, Valentin Carboni, Nico Paz

Bolivia

Óscar Villegas’s start to managing the Bolivian National Team got off to a flyer as he enjoyed a 4-0 mauling of Venezuela at home and a 2-1 win against Chile on the road. The win was Boliva’s first away from home in World Cup Qualification in 31 years.

His latest squad sees four potential debutants in Bruno Poveda, Alejandro Torres and Jhon Velásquez.

Only seven members of the side ply their trade outside of Bolivia.

Bolivia has moved up to eighth in the standings and will be eager for a repeat of what happened last month.

Bolivia Squad

Goalkeepers:
Guillermo Viscarra, Bruno Poveda, Alejandro Torres

Defenders:
Jose Sagredo, Roberto Fernandez, Luis Haquin, Diego Medina, Marcelo Suarez, Yomar Rocha, Sebastian Alvarez, Luis Paz, Pablo Vaca

Midfielders:
Ramiro Vaca, Gabriel Villamil, Miguel Terceros, Hector Cuellar, Jeyson Chura, Robson Tome, Adalid Terrazas, Daniel Camacho, Victor Cuellar, Ervin Vaca

Forwards:
Carmelo Algarañaz, Bruno Miranda, Lucas Chávez, Enzo Monteiro, José Martínez, Jhon Velásquez

Brazil

Brazil have lost four of their last five Qualifiers, increasing the pressure on manager, Dorival Júnior.

Back in September, they earned a 1-0 win over Ecuador in a less-than-pleasing display, before suffering a 1-0 loss to Paraguay in Asuncion. It’s safe to say Seleção need to raise their game.

Alisson misses out after picking up a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Six Brasileirao-based players have been called up, including a potential debutant in Botafogo’s Igor Jesus.

Abner Vinicius who won Olympic gold with Brazil in 2021 is another uncapped player called up to the side.

Brazil Squad

Goalkeepers:
Ederson, Weverton, Bento

Defenders:
Marquinhos, Danilo, Alex Telles, Gabriel Magalhães, Lucas Beraldo, Fabrício Bruno, Vanderson, Abner

Midfielders:
Lucas Paquetá, Bruno Guimarães, Andreas Pereira, André, Gerson

Forwards:
Rodrygo, Raphinha, Gabriel Martinelli, Endrick, Savinho, Luiz Henrique, Igor Jesus

Chile

After a terrible time in September which saw them lose to Argentina away and Bolivia home, Chile has called up seven uncapped players as they hope for a huge improvement.

They currently sit ninth in the standings, Chile have not won any of their last six matches in all competitions.

The experienced duo Mauricio Isla and Eugenio Mena are not included in the squad, Ben Brereton Díaz also misses out.

The squad features nine domestic-based players, two more than last month.

Chile Squad

Goalkeepers:
Brayan Cortés, Vicente Reyes, Lawrence Vigouroux

Defenders:
Paulo Diaz, Guillermo Maripan, Benjamin Kuscevic, Felipe Loyola, Thomas Galdames, Matias Zaldivia, Fabian Hormazabal, Marcelo Morales

Midfielders:
Erick Pulgar, Diego Valdes, Rodrigo Echeverria, Dario Osorio, Esteban Pavez, Carlos Palacios, Williams Alarcon, Luciano Cabral, Ulises Ortegoza

Forwards:
Eduardo Vargas, Victor Davila, Maximiliano Guerrero, Gonzalo Tapia, Lucas Cepeda

Colombia

Colombia’s unbeaten run in the Qualifiers continued last time out as they drew 1-1 on the road against Peru, before beating World Champions Argentina in a 2-1 victory in Barranquilla.

There are two potential debutants in the squad; Kevin Mier and Midfielder Nelson Deossa.

Álvaro Montero and Andrés Román are the only domestic-based players in the 29-man squad.

Four Premier League players make up the squad, including Aston Villa’s Super-Sub Jhon Duran.

Colombia sits in second place.

Colombia Squad

Goalkeepers:
Camilo Vargas, Alvaro Montero, Kevin Mier

Defenders:
Davinson Sanchez, Santiago Arias, Yerry Mina, Johan Mojica, Jhon Lucumí, Cristian Borja, Juan David Cabal, Willer Ditta, Andres Roman

Midfielders:
James Rodriguez, Mateus Uribe, Jefferson Lerma, Juan Fernando Quintero, Jhon Arias, Jorge Carrascal, Richard Rios, Kevin Castano, Yaser Asprilla, Juan Portilla, Nelson Deossa

Forwards:
Luis Diaz, Roger Martinez, Luis Sinisterra, John Cordoba, John Duran, Juan Camilo Hernandez

Ecuador

Despite a decent display in Brazil Ecuador suffered a 1-0 loss but managed to end September on a high as they ran out 1-0 winners against Peru, lifting them to fourth in the standings.

Gonzalo Valle could earn his first cap here as could Hull City’s Óscar Zambrano who has made a solid start to life in England.

The squad includes three domestic-based players, one less than the previous squad.

Ecuador Squad

Goalkeepers:
Hernan Galindez, Moses Ramirez, Gonzalo Valle

Defenders:
Angelo Preciado, Pervis Estupinán, Felix Torres, Piero Hincapie, Cristian Ramirez, Xavier Arreaga, Willian Pacho, Jhoanner Chavez, Joel Ordonez

Midfielders:
Moisés Caicedo, Alan Franco, Gonzalo Plata, Jeremy Sarmiento, Kendry Páez, John Yeboah, Alan Minda, Pedro Vite, John Mercado, Óscar Zambrano

Forwards:
Enner Valencia, Kevin Rodriguez, Leonardo Campana

CONMEBOL WCQs:

BOL vs COL
ECU vs PAR
VEN vs ARG
CHI vs BRA

FRI: PER vs. URU

9 pts between 1st-7th w/ 30 pts remaining. 6pts between 7th and 10th. Pay attention to Bolivia. On a 2-match winning run, now home in the altitude. BIG game for Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/oA5Dk6kUMC

— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) October 10, 2024

Paraguay

After a disappointing Copa America, Paraguay improved massively in September as they earned a hard-fought point against Uruguay before a stunner from Inter Miami’s Diego Gomez gave them an emphatic 1-0 victory over Brazil in Asuncion.

Two potential debutants have been included in the squad; Daniel Rivas and Agustín Sández.

Nacional Asuncion’s Rivas is the only domestic-based player to feature in the squad.

Paraguay sit in the playoff places and will be hoping they can emulate what they did last month.

Paraguay Squad

Goalkeepers:
Roberto Junior Fernandez, Carlos Colonel, Juan Espinola

Defenders:
Gustavo Gomez, Junior Alonso, Fabian Balbuena, Santiago Arzamendia, Omar Alderete, Gustavo Velazquez, Saul Salcedo, Juan Caceres, Daniel Rivas, Agustin Sanchez

Midfielders:
Miguel Almiron, Mathias Villasanti, Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Andres Cubas, Ramon Sosa, Diego Gomez, Damian Bobadilla, Matias Galarza, Hugo Cuenca

Forwards:
Angel Romero, Antonio Sanabria, Julio Enciso, Alex Arce, Isidro Pitta, Alfio Oviedo

Peru

Peru still remain at rock bottom of qualification and are the only side yet to win a game.

Last month, they drew 1-1 with Colombia at home before losing 1-0 to Ecuador on the road.

Four uncapped players are on the side in; Diego Romero, Jorge Murrugarra, Luis Ramos and Maxloren Castro.

15 of the squad play their club football in Peru.

16-year-old Castro is once again in the squad and will be hoping for some game time over the next two matches.

Peru Squad

Goalkeepers:
Pedro Gallese, Carlos Caceda, Diego Romero

Defenders:
Luis Advincula, Carlos Zambrano, Aldo Corzo, Alexander Callens, Luis Abram, Marcos Lopez, Miguel Araujo, Oliver Sonne, Renzo Garces, Erick Noriega

Midfielders:
Sergio Peña, Wilder Cartagena, Horacio Calcaterra, Jesus Castillo, Piero Quispe, Jean Pierre Archimbaud, Jorge Murrugarra

Forwards:
Edison Flores, Andy Polo, Alex Valera, Bryan Reyna, Joao Grimaldo, Jose Rivera, Luis Ramos, Maxloren Castro

Uruguay

Uruguay sit third in qualification and will be hoping for a better round compared to last month when they were goalless twice in two 0-0 draws with Paraguay and Venezuela.

They begin life without Luis Suarez after he retired following the draw with Paraguay.

Darwin Núñez can return to the side after he had his ban lifted following the Copa America riots.

Marcelo Bielsa’s squad features three potential debutants Agustín Sant’Anna, Tiago Palacios and Miguel Merentiel.

The last squad saw no domestic-based players within the squad, but this time around there are three in; Pablo Suárez, Lucas Sanabria and Joaquín Lavega, all of whom are uncapped.

Holding midfielder, Facundo Bernal has earned a first call-up to the side after impressing with Brazilian side Fluminense.

Uruguay Squad

Goalkeepers:
Sergio Rochet, Santiago Mele, Franco Israel

Defenders:
Jose Gimenez, Mathias Olivera, Guillermo Varela, Marcelo Saracchi, Santiago Bueno, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Santiago Mouriño

Midfielders:
Federico Valverde, Nahitan Nandez, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Nicolas de la Cruz, Manuel Ugarte, Maximiliano Araujo, Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Fonseca, Facundo Bernal, Marco Orona, Lucas Sanabria

Forwards:
Darwin Nunez, Facundo Pellistri, Facundo Torres, Cristian Olivera, Luciano Rodriguez, Matias Abaldo, Joaquin Lavega, Pablo Suarez

Venezuela

Venezuela are winless in their last four qualification matches. Last time out, they suffered a 4-0 battering away from home against Bolivia before a 0-0 draw with Uruguay at home. They will be hoping for an improvement this time around, they currently occupy sixth place.

Like last time, La Vinotinto has called up a huge squad, due to having a training camp for the youth sides at the same time to be integrated.

15 players are uncapped.

The only domestic-based player to be called up is Deportivo Táchira’s Carlos Vivas.

Venezuela Squad

Goalkeepers:
Rafael Romo, Joel Graterol, Jose Contreras

Defenders:
Alexander Gonzalez, Yordan Osorio, Nahuel Ferraresi, Miguel Navarro, Christian Makoun, Jon Aramburu, Carlos Vivas, Delvin Alfonzo, Luis Balbo, Victor Fung, Alessandro Milani, Yiandro Raap, Ruben Ramirez, Bianneider Tamayo

Midfielders:
Thomas Rincon, Darwin Machis, Yeferson Soteldo, Jefferson Savarino, Yangel Herrera, Jose Martinez, Cristian Casseres, Eduard Bello, Daniel Pereira, Telasco Segovia, Kervin Andrade, David Martinez, Bryant Ortega, Nicola Profeta, Daniele Quieto, Yair Ramos, Leenhan Romero, Giovanny Sequera

Forwards:
Solomon Rondon, Jhonder Cadiz, Lorenzo D’Agostini, Jesus Ramirez

Match Nine Fixtures

Bolivia vs Colombia | Kick-off — 21:00 (GMT) 10/10/2024

Ecuador vs Paraguay | Kick-off — 22:00 (GMT) 10/10/2024

Venezuela vs. Argentina | Kick-off — 22:00 (GMT) 10/10/2024

Chile vs Brazil | Kick-off — 01:00 (GMT) 10/11/2024

Peru vs Uruguay | Kick-off — 02:30 (GMT) 10/11/2024

Match Ten Fixtures

Colombia vs. Chile| Kick-off — 21:30 (GMT) 10/15/2024

Paraguay vs Venezuela | Kick-off — 00:00 (GMT) 10/16/2024

Uruguay vs Ecuador | Kick-off — 00:30 (GMT) 10/16/2024

Argentina vs Bolivia Kick-off — 01:00 (GMT) 10/16/2024

Brazil vs. Peru | Kick-off — 01:45 (GMT) 10/16/2024